"Yes," said the Private Secretary, "there is the Dragon roaring now."
CHAPTER XIV
JANKOW THE DRAGON
"I don't exactly like that sound," said Zuzu, drawing back. "It makes myshoulders creep." Lulu also hesitated.
"Don't fear," said the Private Secretary. "In my belief the Dragon isnot so bad as his voice and actions would seem to indicate. I have livedhere all my life, and although I have known our Dragon to threaten to doa great many things, I have never known him really to harm anybody inhis life. It seems necessary for a Dragon to roar a great deal; but inmy experience they are not dangerous if properly approached and handledwith care."
Zuzu and Lulu, none the less, were very much afraid as they went onthrough the woods with the Private Secretary. The voice of the Dragonseemed to them very loud and ferocious. They held on tight to the handsof the Private Secretary, who led them on until at last they came outinto a wide, open space in front of a high and jagged pile of rocks. Inthese rocks there was a narrow sort of gorge or passageway, and directlyin front of this opening or door, as they presently discovered, lay thehead and shoulders of the most dreadful looking Dragon either Zuzu orLulu had ever heard of in all their lives.
The head of the Dragon was as large as a two-horse carriage and itsmouth was as wide as a door; so that both of the Twins could havestepped into the mouth had they cared to do so. As they approached, theysaw that the roof of the Dragon's mouth was dark red, the sides of itsmouth and its tongue a light red in color. It had teeth as long as one'sarm. Fire at times came out of its nostrils, and its eyes, which were aslarge as bushel baskets and very bright red in color, rolled from sideto side in the most remarkable and threatening manner.
"Oh, I wish it would stop," exclaimed Lulu, beginning to cry, as theDragon went on growling and roaring.
"Arnggh! Arnggh!" it roared, and started up on its forefeet as though totalk to these intruders. As it did this, it moved its long body quite tothe extremity of its tail, and the Twins could hear its heavy scalesrattling at least fifty feet back in the dark passage where the rest ofthe body and the tail of the Dragon were lying. At these sights andsounds it was all the Private Secretary could do to keep the Twins fromrunning away, but he held them tight by the hands.
"Good morning, Jankow," said he to the Dragon. "How are you feelingto-day? Does the same tooth still bother you?"
"Of course it does," said the Dragon. "How do you suppose you would feelif you had a tooth that had been bothering you for fifty years?"
"I understand," said the Private Secretary, "but thus far the RoyalDentist has always declined to pay you a visit, Jankow, for fear youwould swallow him while he was at work."
The Dragon only roared a few more times at this, but at length he asked,"Who are these two young persons you have with you?"
"These," said the Private Secretary, "are the Royal Hereditary Twins,who have been expected on the Island for a thousand years. You will seethat one has the Royal Hereditary malazite blue hair, while the otherhas the genuine and ancient corazine green hair. Moreover, as you willobserve, they both bear the Royal Wishing Wands, which all must obey. Itis the wish of his Majesty that they have a pleasant life upon ourIsland."
"Well, I hope they will have a better time than I have had," said theDragon mournfully. "What self-respecting Dragon would ask a place likemine? I am forced to obey the King or he will close my mouth; and I amobliged to obey the Fairies in the valley below, else they will pinch mytail. And I was once the Royal Army of the first King of Gee-Whiz, athousand years ago!"
"You will see, my young friends," said the Private Secretary, "thatDragons grow very old and are sometimes, I fear, as short-tempered asthey are long-lived; although I mean no offense to Jankow, who reallyhas a tooth which should have been extracted, had he not been so proudof retaining a full set of teeth. And what he says about being the RoyalArmy is quite true."
"Indeed, it is," said the Dragon proudly. "I was the sole defense ofthis Island against the Wicked Fairies a thousand years ago, but now Iam obliged to defend the Fairies as well. Were it not for me, they wouldget out of the Secret Valley and make trouble perhaps even now. I keepeverybody in on one side and everybody out on the other. So I may saythat I am still the support of this kingdom, although I am older than Ionce was."
"Oh, I see," cried Lulu. "That is why they telephone to the Fairies."
"Yes," growled the Dragon, "that is how they get around me. The new Kinghas in some mysterious way discovered the use of the telephone. It makesme more than ever discontented with my place. And I can tell them thatfor a faithful, hard-working Dragon they'd have a hard enough timegetting my superior, of that I am very sure. And all this indignity tome, who lost a limb in the service of my country!"
"What does he mean by that?" asked Lulu of the Private Secretary.
"It is true," said the latter. "He should have eight legs, including thetwo in front, which are by far the largest and most important of theeight. But if you will observe closely, you will see that Jankow's leftforeleg is of wood and merely painted over."
"Yes, and needs a fresh coat of paint as well," growled the Dragon, nonethe less thrusting out his wooden leg that all might see it. "I am avery much neglected Royal Army, as you can readily see for yourself.Moreover, this loss of one of my most important legs confines me to thisspot. I have been here for over a thousand years. A great many personsthink they would like nothing so much as to be a Dragon, but I can tellthem that they might not find it so pleasant after all, for being anhonest and hard-working Dragon is no light task."
"Don't you go to sleep each night?" asked Zuzu.
"I never go to sleep at all. For over a thousand years I have not had anap. There is nothing in the world can put me to sleep."
"Except _one_ thing," said the Private Secretary, smiling.
The Dragon scowled at him. "What is the use of mocking me?" it said. "Ofcourse, I know that the Enchanted Banjo might put me to sleep, but thatplays only for the King; but not until that takes place does any personget by Jankow, the Royal Dragon."
"We quite trust you, Jankow," said the Private Secretary, "and I agreewith you that you are a most excellent and satisfactory Dragon. But now,my young friends, if you please, we would better start back to theroyal palace, for his Majesty will be waking before long. I only hopethat the royal Waffles will continue to be satisfactory!"
CHAPTER XV
THE GOLDEN LADDER TO FAIRY-LAND
The Widow Pickle proved that she had not lost her skill in the art ofbaking Waffles, and those which she furnished for the royalbreakfast-table could not have been surpassed in any land. After eatingseveral platefuls, the King had again fallen asleep, remarking that hehad not slept so well for years. The Widow Pickle herself was taking anap in a hammock under the trees when the Twins finally returned; and,seeing that every one was fast asleep and they themselves left alone,they presently wandered out a little way into the edge of the wood,where they sat down side by side upon a log, their royal crowns upontheir brows and the Royal Wishing Wands in their hands.
They sat thus, staring out over the distant sea.
"This is a very strange and wonderful country," said Zuzu, "and I amsure I should never have expected to be here, above all places. Isometimes have to rub my eyes to be sure I am awake. Now, the very ideathat we should be so close to actual Fairies, to have them all about, orat least within a short walk--that is very strange and hard for me tobelieve."
"But we don't see them anywhere," said Lulu ruefully. "Now, Fairies maybe very close to one, indeed be almost any place about, and still onemay not see them. We seem to be very little better off than when we wereat home over there;" and she waved her hand toward the distant blue sea,from the other side of which they had come to this strange Island ofGee-Whiz.
Zuzu sat thoughtful for a moment. "Yet," said he, "here we are, withthrones almost as good as that of the King, and with Royal WishingWands, which will bring us anything we want if we only ask for it; andyou kn
ow we are allowed to telephone to the Fairies."
"That is true," cried Lulu, "I had forgotten that. But we must have aweb and a Cricket. A White Cricket may be very hard to find."
Zuzu put the cricket to his ear _Page 81_]
"Perhaps if we got a plain black one it would do just as well," saidZuzu. "Look, there goes one now!" And indeed, as they glanced down theysaw a large Black Cricket hopping along through the grass.
"I will get it," cried Zuzu, and sprang after it with his hat in hishand, soon returning with the Cricket held in his fingers.
"Now we must have some spider webs," said Lulu, forgetting that theywere not complying with the conditions the Private Secretary had toldthem. They forgot to look for a White Cricket, but eagerly ran about inthe grass searching for a spider web. At length, under a wide burdockleaf, they found one. "Here is the Fairy Telephone," cried Lulu. "Quick!Quick! Listen! Let us hear what the Cricket and the spider say for us!"
So Zuzu put the Cricket to his ear. "Creek! Creek!" said the Cricket.Then, as he listened very closely, Zuzu heard something very thin andvery far away begin to sing to him.
"Aha!" cried Zuzu, "this is not such a bad Cricket after all. I shallcall the Fairy, and we'll see what it is, good or bad." So he called outin a loud voice over the Telephone, "Come, Fairy, come!"
To their great surprise, as he spoke there stood at their feet a littleBlack Fairy, with pointed hat, who smiled and bowed.
"Pray, who are you?" asked Zuzu.
"I am Gobo, a Fairy," he explained. "What was it that you wished, goodsir?"
"We wish to see a Fairy," replied Lulu eagerly. "Are you a Fairy?"
"I am one sort of Fairy," replied the little one. "Unhappily, there areother kinds, as I must admit."
"But we wish to see the real ones, with white wings. We want to go tothe Valley of the Fairies, where we may see the Queen herself and learnhow the good Fairies live," said Lulu.
"I can be of no use in that case," said the little one, turning awaygruffly.
"But surely you can help us to get into the Fairy Valley!" cried Lulu.
"I might get into trouble if I did too much talking," replied the littleone. "But why do you ask me so foolish and childish a question, when youhave all the means in your power without my aid?"
"What do you mean?" cried Zuzu eagerly. "It is true, we have threewishes every week, though foolishly, like most Twins, we often wish thesame thing, and so shorten our allowance. In this way we have nearlyused up all our wishes for this week, and I am sure we can not waitanother whole week before trying to get to the Fairy Valley, where theQueen lives and whence all the gold and jewels come."
"Aha!" laughed the little black one. "Suppose I should tell you. Couldyou keep the secret to yourselves?"
"To be sure we could," cried both the Twins. "We would not tell a soulon the Island."
"Then why not go?" said the little one. "Have you not the EnchantedBanjo?"
"We could get it," said Zuzu, "and it plays for us."
"That I know," said the Wicked Fairy, "and with the Enchanted Banjo canyou not do all manner of things? For instance, although I do not say itor admit it, would not the Enchanted Banjo put the Dragon to sleep?"
"Precisely what the Private Secretary said, and indeed what the Dragonhimself wished!" said Zuzu.
"And if the Dragon were asleep," said the Wicked Fairy, "would it not beeasy to unscrew his wooden leg, and leave him so that he could not getaway, no matter how hard he tried? And if he were helpless, what couldhinder you from slipping past him and going down the Golden Ladder intothe Valley of the Fairies, which he guards so faithfully?"
"The Golden Ladder?" cried Lulu. "What is that?"
"You must be a very ignorant person not to know," said the Fairy. "Thatis the stairway of the Fairies, very long but not hard to travel, if youknow the way. It leads to the Fairy Valley, that is sure; and it is alsosure that no person except a Fairy has ever been down that GoldenLadder, no, not in the thousands of years that I have lived on thisIsland; and that is the truth and you may depend on it, even if I amcalled a Wicked Fairy and answer the Black Cricket instead of theWhite."
"But could we ever get back again?" asked Zuzu fearfully.
"That is for you to determine," said the Wicked Fairy, scowling.
In his excitement over these matters Zuzu had let go of the Cricket,which, finding itself at liberty, now hopped away and crawled under alog. As he stooped over to pick up the Cricket, Zuzu noticed that theWicked Fairy was gone; so they could ask no more about this matter ofthe Golden Ladder into the Valley of the Fairies.
CHAPTER XVI
THE KING AND THE WICKED FAIRY
On the morning following this event, the King of Gee-Whiz woke in greatgood humor. "I declare, I never felt better in my life," said he to hisPrivate Secretary, "and I believe it is all due to those excellentWaffles which the lady has made for me. I must have some more, and thatat once. Pray, tell her to get ready my breakfast, and to have not lessthan two dozen Waffles at the least."
"Very good, your Majesty," said the Private Secretary, smiling, and veryglad that he had been able to find something so much to the King'sliking.
"And where are the Royal Hereditary Twins, this morning?" asked theKing. "They are, I suppose, perfectly happy?"
"Perfectly," replied the Private Secretary, "as indeed they ought to be.I presume they are wandering somewhere about in the forest, as is theircustom. I need hardly say that they have already nearly exhausted theirthree wishes."
"Well," said the King, "we need not fear they will wish anythingdangerous. But do you know, my dear Jiji, I have been feeling rathernervous myself this morning."
"Why, your Majesty, what can be the trouble?"
"I can not call it exactly any trouble, for it is a mere uneasiness. Thetruth is, I felt as though there were some one behind my bed all themorning. Now, that can not possibly be the case."
"No, your Majesty," said the Private Secretary, "because I always sleepacross the door-mat myself, and it would be impossible for any one toreach your Majesty's bedside without my knowing it. Permit me to suggestthat perhaps the royal Waffles--"
"No, no," exclaimed the King decidedly. "It is not in the least theWaffles. It is nothing--only a dream, perhaps. Yet I wonder if any ofthe Fairies can have got out of the valley. If I thought so, I wouldhave Jankow court-martialed, and perhaps beheaded. He is getting atrifle too old for a good Dragon, anyhow."
"Impossible," said the kind-hearted Private Secretary. "I saw Jankow butyesterday, and he is as wide-awake as ever."
"As for myself," replied the King, "I have not slept so well for ahundred years, although I can not tell whether it is the Waffles or thesyrup."
"It was a fortunate thing, your Majesty, that you found the syrup soeasily," said the Private Secretary.
"Quite right," replied the King. "And since it is not yet quitebreakfast time, I think I shall just wander out into the woods and carrymy ax, in case I should find a syrup tree. Although I am King, I believein every man doing a little work for himself, you know."
So saying, the King stepped out into the edge of the great forest whichsurrounded the palace, humming a tune to himself, for he felt verycontented that morning. He was not aware that at his side, hopping alongas he walked, was the little Black Wicked Fairy which had been summonedby Zuzu's thoughtless message of the evening before. This Wicked Fairy,when Zuzu had stooped over to find his Cricket, had merely slipped backunder a leaf and hidden himself, where he had stood laughing to himselfat the confusion of Lulu and Zuzu. It seems to be a peculiarity ofWicked Fairies never to oblige any one if they can help doing so; andthat this is true may be seen from the acts of this Wicked Fairy inregard to the Telephone.
No sooner had Zuzu and Lulu left the forest on the night before than theWicked Fairy followed them to their own house near the palace. He spiedupon all the surroundings, and soon discovered the sleeping apartmentsof the King. He hopped over the form of the Private Secretary after the
latter had gone to sleep, and so hid himself behind the royal bedstead,as the King had dimly felt was the case.
Now, it was not in the power of the Wicked Fairy actually to harm theKing or any other person, but only to encourage persons to do thingswhich would get them into trouble. Thus it was he who had suggested tothe King to take his ax and go out into the woods to find a syrup tree.This was really the worst thing in the world the King could have done,as was very soon to be shown; for it was far from the Fairy's intentionsthat the King should cut into a real syrup tree.
As the King went on, with his gold ax over his shoulder, he was thinkingof a great many things which he ought to do, or wanted to do, or did notwant to do. By this time, the sun was shining brightly, so that theshadow of the King appeared distinctly upon the ground. Now, you mustknow that the shadow of a king is very much better and bigger than theshadow of a common person. A king will not cause a shadow in the dark,or at least very few kings will; but in a brilliant place, even if therebe intervening objects, the shadow of a king is very clear and distinct.The King of Gee-Whiz was very proud of his shadow, for, being a triflevain, he thought himself a very handsome man, and that, indeed, he oncehad been; which is the same thing, for a King.
Now, as he looked down at the ground, he saw his shadow moving along athis side, keeping step with him regularly and looking, as it seemed tohim, very large and handsome. He stood for a time at an open space inthe forest, with his ax resting on a stump, looking with pride on hisshadow, which he thought was quite the most superior shadow he had everseen. When he made a motion, the shadow made the same. He raised hishand to his head in royal salute, and the shadow did quite the same."Even a shadow has reverence for the King," said he, and he felt veryglad that he had been born a King, as the position carried with it manyadvantages of a very obvious nature.